http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/22083762/ns/today-today_people/t/sex-slaves-human-trafficking-america/
Kahng, Grace. "Sex Slaves, Human Trafficking... In America?" Today People. 2007. Web. October 22, 2011.
Katya was a foreign exchange university student. In the spring of 2004, her and her friend Lena were looking forward to their jobs that they had gotten for the summer in Virginia Beach, Va. After they arrived at the airport from their native country of Ukraine, they were happy that the were greeted by two men who spoke their russian language. The two men, Alex Maksimenko and Michael Aronov, told the girls that they would now be going to Detroit because their jobs were reassigned. There they would be waitresses and work on shaping up their English skills. The girls had no idea that they were about to get on a flight that would change their lives forever. Once they arrived at the hotel in detroit, they sat them down and took their passports and papers, said that they owe the men big time for taking them there and told them that they would be working in a strip club called "Cheetahs" and threw them the stripper outfits. Over the next year, the girls went through mental, physical, and sexual abuse and were forced to work the 12 hour shifts at the mens' club in Detroit. There are an estimated 17,000 women and girls who are forced into the sex industry. These womens and girls are only thought about as dollars and cents for this sex industry is all about big money. In 2005, the girls escaped and were taken to the FBI and ICE. The two men were arrested and are serving their time in Federal prison. Katya knows that the men are imprisoned, but she says that she will always live with fear.
This story was easy to connect to on an emotional level. It allows for so many people to feel sorry for the girls, and to think that it happens in our very own country? The fact that it happens to foreign exchange students who come here to get a good education makes me even more sick. Either way its not right and I am glad that the media is not hiding this, but instead sharing it with the people of our country. Many people probsbly don't realize how widespread sex trafficking is becoming and just like these two girls, dont think that it would ever happen to them. I keep finding this topic more and more interesting as I continue to research it and hopefully it interests you as well.
That is absolutely terrible! No one should be abused, especially like this. Thissue women were lucky the men didn't do physical harm to the girls while they had them. This is wrong on so many levels, however, I can't thinot of many ways I would be able to put a stop to this...so I don't know how the law could. Good topic.
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